This and That Of Recent Political Class Insanity

Today's post will touch on a host of recent acts of political insanity that our good politicians have graced us with. No act by itself is big enough to fill an entire post but together you continue to get the feeling that we are governed by people that have neither the ability, the will, the intelligence, or the humility to lead this country to better times.

Senator John Edwards Sex Tape - as most of us know, Senator Edwards has finally admitted to having an extramarital affair and a child out of wedlock why his wife tried to recover from cancer. After initially denying having an affair and then denying the child was his, he has finally admitted to both acts and the additional act of trying to cover up both. A North Carolina judge involved with all of these shenanigans now wants to view a so-called sex tape that shows Edwards having intercourse with the woman of his affair. Rather than go into details of the judge's actions, let us just remember that this Senator came relatively close to becoming either President or Vice President of the United States. While what he does in his private life is usually no one else's business, by being a public figure of such prominence he forfeits some of that privacy. Affairs and cover ups probably require a lot of work and fibbing, energy that should have/could have been better spent serving his current and possible future constituents. Makes you wonder if others in Washington and other political offices (see: Spitzer, MacGreevey, Clinton) are so busy having affairs and covering them up, maybe that is the reason the proper amount of attention has not been spent solving real, national problems.

Eve Of Financial Destruction - We have had some recent fun pointing out how the Obama administration and the entire political class was spending so much money that they did not have, resulting in a skyrocketing national debt, that we were on the "Eve Of (Financial) Destruction," a takeoff on the hit protest song from Barry McGuire in the late 1960s. In those posts, we predicted that at some point in time, so much runaway spending would start to spook those people and nations, both domestic and international, who buy our bonds and debt. They might begin demanding higher interest rates as the potential for defaulting on those bonds rises. This potential seemed to be a little far fetched until today. In an Associated Press (AP) article today, AP reported that there was a record drop in foreign holdings of U.S Treasury bills and bonds in December, 2009. This could possibly indicate that some people in the world are getting a little antsy about the high deficit levels that the political class is incurring. A lot of the drop was due to the Chinese government dumping their U.S. Treasury holdings. Is this just a one time dip in demand for U.S. debt or the beginning of a trend where our debt will not only be rising but the cost to service it will also be higher? Who knows, but the concept of starting to get government spending under control (Step 1 in "Love My Country, Loathe My Government") might be a good idea to start implementing today before the trend actually materializes.

Senator Evan Bayh Not To seek Re-Election - Senator Bayh announced today that he will not seek re-election. Seems the Senator is very discouraged that the bickering and sniping in Washington was resulting in gridlock and not advancing any solutions for the issues facing the country. Well, duh? Many of us could have told him that years ago. The American political class has not solved any problem of consequence in over 40 years including the War on Drugs, the lack of a national energy policy and strategy, failing public schools, social programs heading for bankruptcy, etc. and he just recognized the ineffectiveness now? The sad part is he is probably in the minority when it comes to realizing how poorly we are served by those in the political class.

Subsidizing High Pro Athletes - A short article from the February 8, 2010 issue of Sports Illustrated, quoted ex-Pittsburgh Steeler Jerome Bettis. According to Mr. Bettis, the reason a lot of NFL players do not want to play in the Pro Bowl is because, "You have to offer them more money. If the players make 50 grand, 100 grand, that's different. But 25 grand? They can pass on that." Now, I believe in free markets and capitalism, any American is entitled to make as much or as little money as they want and their abilities will serve them. However, I do take offense to Mr. Bettis's comments and how out of touch they are with today's realities. If a person is fortunate enough to have a job in this economy, they probably are not making $100 thousand a year, never mind $100 thousand to play one football game. Now I would not endorse having the government regulating salaries in any industry. However, that does not mean that these astronomical salaries for today's pro athletes should be subsidized by ordinary Americans. Thus, Step 49 from "Love My Country, Loathe My Government" should be implemented so that Americans can still make as much money as they want and can but that companies, including pro sports franchises, cannot take these outrageous salaries as a corporate tax deduction to be subsidized by the rest of us.

Obama and Foreign Relations - I have been hammered by friends and family this past year of how well Obama will represent the United States in the eyes of the rest of the world, improving our foreign relations and statue in the world. After a year in office, lets see how well he is doing:

• According to an article in Suddeutsche Zeitung by Hubert Wetzel, as reported in the February 19, 2010 issue of the The Week magazine, "The diplomatic world knows no greater rudeness than to skip a planned summit - and to announce that cancellation through the media." The summit being referred to is annual U.S. European Union Summit to be held in Spain in May. According to the article, the administration did not even involve its ambassadors in snubbing the Summit and the non-attendance has resulting in a lot of time planning the Summit to be wasted, embarrassing the host, Spain's President Jose Luis Zapatero.
• After giving a speech at an Egyptian university earlier in 2009, no apparent progress has been made in defusing the Israeli/Arab/Palestinian problem. Nothing. For someone who promised so much in relation to negotiating and bringing parties together, nothing has happened that could not have happened under Bush, not that I want Bush back either.
• Speaking of the Mideast, the Iranians have forestalled Obama for over a year now, all the while increasing its ability to produce a nuclear weapon while the Obama administration has done nothing significant to deter them. Threats have not been followed through on, deadlines have lapsed without repercussions, and current sanctions are not effective since the Iranians have probably accelerated their nuclear ambitions over the past year. Hardly a diplomatic victory for the administration. He has not gotten any further than Bush, while during his administration the Iranians are that much closer to having the Bomb.
• Speaking of nuclear weapons, Obama has not had much more success with the North Koreans than Bush. Results are similar to Iran, the North Koreans ability to deliver a nuclear bomb is one year further along without any positive diplomatic developments.
• In an article by Thomas Vampouille in Le Figaro, as reported in The Week magazine, it is reported that Obama has insulted President Nicolas Sarkozy of France many times the past year. The most blatant insult was when Obama sent a letter to Sarkozy but addressed it to Sarkozy's predecessor, Jacques Chirac. Other insults included rejecting Sarkozy's suggestion to overhaul the world's financial system and his efforts to advance efforts for Mideast peace.

All of these conditions do not look like like the diplomatic miracle many thought Obama would be. In fact, his record does not look much better or different than what we had under Bush.

Thus, despite a different administration, the insanity continues. Politicians have affairs and then spend more valuable time and resources covering it up, athletes are upset that they do not get even more outrageous salaries that are subsidized by the American taxpayer, the financial eve of destruction seems a lot closer today than yesterday, no problems ever get solved, and our diplomatic standing and effectiveness is no better today than it was a year ago. The concept of voting out all incumbents in November gets more attractive everyday, how much worse would it be to have new people sitting in Congress?



Visit our website at www.loathemygovernment.com to order an autographed copy of the book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government -Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom and Destroying The American Political Class" and to sign up for the cause. The book is also available online at Amazon and Barnes And Noble.